Preview
  • Lethal Passage

  • The Story of a Gun
  • By: Erik Larson
  • Narrated by: Richard Poe
  • Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (128 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Lethal Passage

By: Erik Larson
Narrated by: Richard Poe
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

This devastating book illuminates America's gun culture - its manufacturers, dealers, buffs, and propagandists - but also offers concrete solutions to our national epidemic of death by firearm. It begins with an account of a crime that is by now almost commonplace: on December 16, 1988, 16-year-old Nicholas Elliot walked into his Virginia high school with a Cobray M-11/9 and several hundred rounds of ammunition tucked in his backpack. By day's end, he had killed one teacher and severely wounded another.

In Lethal Passage Erik Larson shows us how a disturbed teenager was able to buy a weapon advertised as "the gun that made the 80s roar." The result is a book that can - and should - save lives, and that has already become an essential text in the gun-control debate.

©1994, 1995, 2011 Erik Larson (P)2019 Recorded Books
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Lethal Passage

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    70
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    11
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    63
  • 4 Stars
    24
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    61
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enlightening

An important book. As with all of Mr. Larson's work, I learned a lot. His willingness to infiltrate and investigate provided a first-hand account of the many ways the gun industry uses loopholes to skirt or break the law, putting all of us in danger.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great reasoned book

this is a very important subject to me. I was the first one shot on the ground in the 1966 Massacre at the University of Texas, Austin. I was 8 months pregnant and lost my unborn child and my beloved Tom.

Larson is very measured and fair and thorough.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The right to life & liberty vs guns obsession

I wish that Constitutionally defined Rights to Life and Liberty were defended in America as strongly as the right to own and carry guns.

I agree with Erik Larson on unified code across all states for guns purchases, but at the same time I would emphasize the need for harsh punishment for all those people who help minors obtain guns, which are later used in mass shootings ... That includes Robyn Anderson who has purchased three guns for Columbines yet the authorities didn’t press any charges against her, something that in my opinion is a travesty ...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I grew up with John Wayne and never knew

I loved John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Matt Dillon. Grew up in Texas, heart of the west and never knew all this. A must read if you are against gun sanctions. This is a game changer.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Most Important Subject

Of grave importance to every American who is decent enough to be frightened of, and disgusted by our insane gun policies

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gun owner here

More pertinent now than when written. Good information and lots of history that gun owners need to know. Read and think about where we are today!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I wish it wasn’t 30+ years old

It was great. I didn’t realize that it had been published in the 90s and only wish the information it held was up to date.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lethal Passage-Larson’s research is unparalleled!

Though published in 1994, it might as well have been yesterday. A gun is not what the general population of America understands. Larson goes deep into the perception of our Gun culture, not so much as ‘Anti-Gun’ but as an intelligent indicator of gross negligence in all aspects of the gun.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must read/listen after Uvalde, Sandy Hook ... etc.

I didn't know what I was getting into when I started Lethal Passage but I literally started listening, quite by accident, the day of the mass elementary shooting in Uvalde, Texas. This book traces the real problem of gun sales and violence in this country and offers viable "solutions" that truly make sense. But it is much more than that. It is a gripping account of how the gun trade works using the narrative of following one gun and its harrowing consequences. Whatever side of the fence you are on regarding guns this is a fascinating read and the audio gets its hooks into you and compels you to deeply think about what solutions there could be ....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great information...needs to be updated

great to learn so much about the gun industry. it would be worth updating this since there have been so many mass shootings since 1994.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!